Obama's immigration plan gives Ohio businesses a taste of reform

Graciela Leal, a student at Case Western Reserve University, waves a flag during a September rally at the Free Stamp in support families facing deportation. President Obama acted Friday to bring some relief to undocumented workers Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Northeast Ohio's business community has been one of the state's leading voices for immigration reform, calling for easier access to high-skill immigrants, job creators and laborers, especially farm workers.

Most of those reinforcements won't be landing without an act of Congress. But business leaders did see some of their goals realized Friday, when President Obama took executive action on immigration reform.

In addition to protecting several million undocumented workers from deportation, the president advanced three strategies sought by the business community. The executive action will:

Create a new visa for entrepreneurs, allowing easier entry for immigrants who start businesses

Relax the H-1B visa program to allow the spouses of high-skill immigrants to work, which is expected to make it easier for companies to recruit international talent

Grant foreign students with sought-after degrees permission to stick around longer after graduation and work for an American company

While the actions fall far short of the kind of sweeping reforms sought by Ohio business and industry, they are more significant than many people realize, said Margaret Wong, a Cleveland immigration lawyer with many business clients.

"For business, it's very good," Wong said, singling out the new access to international students.

The Department of Homeland Security still has to work out the details, but the Optional Practical Training program will be expanded for international students graduating in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

"The Chinese are very interested," Wong said. "And the Indians will be excited about that. These are engineers and mathematicians. They're allowed to stay longer and work."

She said the entrepreneurship visa should be a new economic catalyst.

"A lot of immigrants want to open a business here," Wong said, adding that she hears from Europeans frequently. "For $10,000 to $30,000, you can open a cafe or a bakery."

Larger ambitions will have to await comprehensive reform, which has long been the goal of business leaders.

In June of 2013, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, like other leading Ohio business groups, endorsed reform principles that were included in an immigration bill passed by the U.S. Senate.

Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, has yet to allow the Senate bill to come up for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. Obama cited the long inaction -- more than 500 days -- as a reason for taking executive action.

The president's measures fall well short of the goals of the business community. For example, business leaders badly want the H-1B visa program expanded to allow in more scientists and technical talent. That requires action by Congress.

The business community had also sought a new visa program for farm workers, which is included in the Senate bill. In northern Ohio, undocumented workers are concentrated in agriculture, in the nurseries of Lake County and the orchards and vegetable farms of Northcentral and Northwestern Ohio.

"GCP reiterates its call for comprehensive and bipartisan immigration reform, which cannot be achieved through executive order," said Marty McGann, the senior vice president of government advocacy for the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

McGann said the president's order could provide "short-term relief," especially for high-skilled immigrants, but could also complicate chances of more meaningful and long-lasting reform.

Michele Wucker, the vice president of studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a thought leader on immigration in the Midwest, said the president's actions might be more impactful and lasting than many realize.

American companies can now offer a better package to international recruits. Under the new directive, H-1B visa holders can change jobs and their spouses can look for work in their fields.

The protections for undocumented workers will extend to many of Ohio's farm workers, who can now breath easier on the drive to the orchard.

Meanwhile, the Reagan-era amnesty of 1986 gives a clue to broader economic implications. The newly legal workers are expected see their wages rise, Wucker said. Many more will enter the tax system, pouring more revenues into state and local treasuries.

"There's still a lot of things that Congress can and should do to address the concerns of the business community," Wucker said

But the president's limited action will endure, she predicted.

"In reality, it wouldn't make political sense to overturn these measures," she said.

Cleveland immigration lawyer David Leopold cautions that none of the president's directives have been implemented and that immigrants should beware of anyone asking them to submit an application or request. He explains what to look for in a column in the Huffington Post.